Will Smith and Others Finally Confirmed for Live Action ALADDIN

Aladdin is easily one of my favorite animated Disney movies, followed closely by The Lion King. and this years D23 is an exciting time as a fan of both of these films. Unfortunately, not being there, I missed out on getting to see the first look at Jon Favreau’s Live action Lion King remake, but we did finally get confirmation of information that’s been rumored for some time now.

Will Smith has officially signed on to take on the role of the Genie, made iconic by Robin Williams in the original film. Smith is an interesting choice for this role, he definitely has a knack for comedy, however not exactly the same sort of over the top in your face comedy and improv that made Robin Williams famous. Genie’s musical numbers weren’t too taxing either, so I’m sure with Smith’s musical background, even though singing was never really his thing, he should have no problem nailing these songs.

In addition to Smith, Naomi Scott who was most recently seen as Kimberly, the Pink Power Ranger, in Lionsgate’s Power Rangers reboot will be taking on the role of Jasmine and Mena Massoud who can be seen in the John Krasinski led Jack Ryan series on Amazon, will be the movie’s title character, Aladdin.

Guy Ritchie is directing the film, which Sean Bailey, Studio President, said will draw influences for its city of Agrabah from the Middle East, India, and even China. And it seems as though the film will not be a direct adaptation of the original Disney film, but the screenplay will go back to the classic Arabic folktales of One Thousand And One Nights as well.